Man sentenced to 1 year in prison for fondling woman on Continental flight

Man sentenced to 1 year in prison for fondling a sleeping passenger on a Continental Airlines flight

Ramesh Advani, 65, was sentenced to a year in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine in the U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey on Monday.

Advani was arrested in May of 2010 and plead guilty to a charge of Abusive Sexual Conduct in April of 2011. He he was caught fondling a sleeping woman on a flight from Hong Kong to New Jersey. He admitted to reaching under a blanket that was covering the woman seated next to him and sexually abusing her. Two passengers, seated in the row behind the woman, also witnessed the assault and kicked the woman’s chair to wake her. The woman alerted the flight’s crew members and Advani was arrested when the plane landed in Newark.

The case was prosecuted as a Federal crime because the incident occurred over international waters.